CROSSFIELD TRILOGY : Volume No. 01

Chp 8.5: Get Him!

"Man, I'm hungry! I hope they have chicken here. It's been a while since I had that." Assem said as the three walked into the dining hall.
Polished maple wood flooring below and Victorian style large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, gave the dining hall a feel of royalty. Round tables draped with white and red cloth were arranged in a hexagonal pattern such that, students could easily pass from between the tables without it being too congested. The windows were covered with crimson-gold drapes which blended in the off yellowish light given off by the chandeliers. In comparison to the theater, though the dining hall was a bit smaller in size, it's well planed structure and majestic design compensated well.

On one side of the hall were long tables on top of which, large bowls and steel containers were being kept.

"So it's a buffet." Janet whispered to herself. The first years had now formed a line to the tables, each student picking his choice of food.

"That looks good." Assem said as he grabbed a fried chicken thigh from one the containers. "Jeez, I never thought I would say this but, they have too much food here. I mean, we haven't even reached the main course yet my plate is already full."
"Well, that's why you don't get too excited about the starters." Janet smirked. She took a spoonful of pasta on her plate and was about to move ahead when she saw her boyfriend staring at the soup container.
"Hey, everything okay?" Janer asked tentatively.
"Its kinda strange don't you think?" Mark said, his gaze still fixed at the containers of soup.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't notice it?"
"Notice what?" Janet asked, puzzled.
"Even though there is nobody here to fill the food containers after they are empty, some how the food never seems to finish. There were about 30 students before us in line, most of them hungry from the long travel. Considering that, the soup and other containers should have been atleast half empty by now. Instead, it looks like no one's even touched them." Mark spoke. He took a bowl and poured a ladle of steaming chicken soup in it. 'Just as I thought, the quantity dosen't change, not even a little.'

"Well, I think I have an answer for that." Janet said as she gave her boyfriend a smile. "This may have something to do with Alchemy."
"Alchemy?"
"Yeah, I read it somewhere. There are a few spells and procedure really advanced that are responsible for altering time and space." Janet said as she passed the salads section.
"Guess that explains it." Mark nodded as he helped himself to some hummus.
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"This is seriously so good." Janet gleamed as she put a spoonful of the aromatic rice in her mouth.
"You've never had biryani before? Thats so-"
"Dude, we live in the States." Mark said before Assem could complete.
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot. This is just really new to me you know. "
"Well, the feeling's mutual." Mark smiled. "Seriously though, just a few days ago, I was living in my house like a normal teenager. I though about normal things too, like algebra, homework, oiling my bike and stuff like that. Now, it's a completely different world. Angels, demons, people who can literally freeze the atmosphere. This just feels unreal."
"Well, believe it or not but, this is real . This is our reality." Janet spoke softly. She put her hand in Mark's thigh and gave it a gently squeeze.

"You know, what if we raise a toast?" Assem said, his eyes moving from Mark to Janet and back.
"Thats not a bad actually. Plus, we do have a glass of orange juice to finish don't we?" Mark chuckled.
"Well then," Janet raised her glass up,"here's to new beginnings and a fresh start."

Assem raised his glass up swiftly. A rather too swiftly for his own good as a second later, he felt the glass hit something.

"What the heck?"

Assem turned back to see an angry Edward Vermillion with orange juice spilled all over his shirt.
Howls and boos soon started to come from all sides of the dining hall as all the students, the first as well as the third were showing an interest in what would happen next.

"Shit man, I'm so sorry. I just wasn't paying attention." Assem jumped to his feet apologizing.

"Oh don't worry, you're going to pay for it." Edward chrunched his teeth. Immediately taking a aggressive stance he curled his fist and landed one swift punch right on Assem's jaw.

Whooooooo
Hooting had now started in the dining hall and the once peaceful atmosphere had now changed in ti a really tensed one.

"Fuck!" Mark whispered under his breath as he scrambled out of his chair to separate the two.
"Dude stop-" Before Mark could complete his statement, Assem had already grabbed Edward left hand tightly. He twisted it and then, with all the strength that Assem could muster, he threw Edward right over his shoulder on the ground!
"Pussy." Assem muttered under his breath as Edward groaned in pain.

"Both of you stop right now!"

Mark turned behind to see two third years standing two tables behind. The guy had neatly combed black hair and a really thing mustache. He wore uniforms quite similar to them except for the arm band on his right arm. The girl besides him had slightly hazel hair and wore the same arm band but with horizontal strips over it.

"You." The girl said pointing towards Mark. "Take Edward to the infirmary and then come to the director's office. Luckily, I saw that the orange juice spilled was an accident but under no circumstances were you to retaliate. Come with me to the staffroom now. Everybody else, go back to your tables and enjoy the feast, there will be no more shouting in the dining hall  now or you are all looking at detentions right in the first week of school."
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"What were you kids even doing?" Mrs Yamato asked, slightly concerned as she applied an ice pack on Edward's shoulder. "Oh it was nothing ma'am," Edward replied. "Just a silly fight that's all."

"He probably didn't mean it you know?"  Mark spoke tentatively as the nurse rummaged through some drawers.
"What are you? His wife?" Edward scowled at Mark. 'Man, if he keeps up this temper, I can totally see him getting hit with something worse than a shoulder throw.' Mark thought to himself. He gave a sigh and turned to the nurse. "He will be okay won't he? Mrs Yamato?"
"Yeah, it's just a bit of muscle strech. It will heal by tomorrow evening. Although I must say, if Edward had landed on a table or something similar, then the result would have been way worse." Ms Yamato said solemly.
"By the way," The nurse turned towards Mark, "didn't you say you had been called to the director's office?"

"Shit!" Mark muttered.
"If I were you, I wouldn't want to keep the director waiting. He may seem to have a laid back attitude but when it comes to time, he becomes really particular." Ms Yamato spoke.
Mark gave the wall clock a quick glance. 'Shi...I wasted almost 20 minutes here.'
"Well, I'll get going then." Mark said as he walked towards the door. "Happy recovery!" Mark added as he turned towards Edward who gave him a frown just before he closed the door.
'Happy recovery? What the heck was that?' Mark frowned as he thought to himself. He skipped a stair at a time, trying to go as fast as he could.
'The last office in the third floor corridor.' Mark remembered the girl's words.

He jumped over the two last stairs on the marble stair case and found himself in a green carpeted corridor with a slightly brighter shaded lamps glowing on each side. As he walked towards the end of the corridor, the noises coming from the dining hall below went on decreasing to a point where he could hear almost nothing.

'Now that I come to think of it? Why did the director call for me? If it was for what happened in the dining hall then I would've been asked to go to the staffroom along with Janet and Assem.' Mark thought to himself as he reached the end of the corridor.
Just as the girl had mentioned, there was a giant oakwood door with the school's symbol,two giant blue whales, embossed in the woodwork.
A  small fountain stood on either side of the door, the sound of water flowing over rock, ringing in Mark's ears. The silence sure gave the corridor a rather eerie yet somewhat calming effect.
'Well, God give me luck.'
Mark said as he knocked on the door and entered.

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